music

[Music][grids]

theatre

[Theatre][twocolumns]

Gig Review: Kew the Music - Jools Holland, The Corrs, The Gipsy Kings ✭✭✭✭✭

Kew The Music 2016 
Friday 15th to Sunday 17th July 2016
Jools Holland - Photo by Steve Stubbs
Review by Manda Graham & Adam Sansom

Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra 5*
As you can probably expect, Kew Gardens is one of the best settings to host a music festival. We pitched up ready to be entertained and Jools Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra certainly did not disappoint. A great mix of ska, big band numbers and the famous Enjoy Yourself made for a great evening. Special guests included Ruby Turner and Pauline Black and Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson from The Selecter. 
This evening appeared to have less audience members than the Saturday and Sunday, but the atmosphere was still alive; Jools was fully involving us all with question-and-answer singing, dancing and enthusiastic patter.
It is very hard to fault such an icon of the British music industry, although he was slightly let down by the FOH mix. But overall, a thoroughly enjoyable evening with a great range of music to keep you hooked throughout.

The Corrs 5*
A trip down memory lane from my childhood! I have to admit that before the gig I had forgotten most of The Corrs songs but they all came flooding back during this awesome performance!
The Corrs were absolutely brilliant - opening with a drum solo performed by Caroline really geared the crowd up, great stage presence and an excellent connection with the crowd throughout. The performance included their most popular songs, Runaway, Dreams and What Can I Do To Make You Love Me? along with traditional Irish tunes and songs from their new album White Light
The evening was also a gigantic wedding reception for a couple who had got married in the Gardens earlier in the day and Runaway was dedicated to the newlyweds by Lead Vocalist, Andrea.
As a side note, support act Norma Jean Martine is one to look out for. Originally from New York, Martine was undecided between a career in theatre or music and she chose to come to London to pursue music. With her debut album out later this year and a track in Will Poulter and Cara Delevigne’s latest film Kids In Love, 2016 seems to be looking positive for her!

The Gipsy Kings 4*
The final evening of Kew The Music transported us to Spain (via France, I oddly found out when doing some background on this) as we were treated to the flamenco inspired Catalan rumba’s and salsa’s of the Gipsy Kings. An amazingly talented group who held the audience’s attention with outstanding musicianship and a non-stop rhythm. It is not often I am impressed but these six guitarists performing flawlessly together all night certainly did. This show defiantly brought a Fiesta atmosphere to Kew Gardens and added an extra bit of variety to the Festival’s musical itinerary.

A great crowd-pleaser of an evening and a great end to a fantastic festival,
See you next year Kew!

Reviews

[Reviews][bleft]

Events

[Events][bleft]

Comedy

[Comedy][bleft]